Daughter of Death
by ForeverSunshine13
Summary: Hadrea Blair is convinced her life stinks. Her mother has sent her off to a camp in New York where not only does she find out she's a demigod, she discovers she's a demigod who isn't supposed to exist. And if that isn't bad enough, she's also supposed to be saving the world (Rewritten)
1. Prologue

**A/N Well, I said I would rewrite it and here I go! Hopefully this goes better than the last version…at least I got the plot worked out all the way this time. That's rather helpful **** Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Not Rick guys…sorry. **

**Daughter of Death**

Prologue

ForeverSunshine13

_Darkness. _

_Like a thick blanket of black draped over my eyes. I usually love the darkness, using it to hide everything that feels wrong. But I don't love this darkness. This is different. It's heavy and oppressive, smothering me and making it difficult to breathe. _

_The sound of someone's deep ragged breathing echoes loudly in my ears. It sounds like the person is trying to breathe through wet sand. My body shakes with every breath and I realize that it's my breathing. I'm the one struggling to bring oxygen into my lungs. _

_I notice I'm lying on my back. Underneath me is something cold and hard, like stone. I can feel the coldness seeping through my shirt like ice water, chilling me to the bone. I expect myself to shudder, but I don't. I make no move against the cold. _

_My brain feels frozen, sluggish almost, like someone left it in the freezer a bit too long. My thoughts come to me slowly, as if fighting against something. I search to try and find what it is that's holding my mind back, and that's when I feel it. _

_Pain. _

_Pain burning like fire under my ribs, each breath creating even more agony. It is the worst pain I've ever felt and I have no idea how it remained unnoticed for as long as it did. The long I lay here, the more the pain spreads, filling my whole body. My whole _being_. It feels like my very soul is being sucked from my body._

_A breathless, pain filled moan escapes from my lips despite my efforts to keep them clamped. I can barely hear it over the sound of blood pounding in my ears._

"_Hadi?" A voice asks, wavering slightly with emotion. _

_The voice is startlingly familiar. I know this voice, I know it very well, I've heard it a million times. It's not new to me, but I can't put a face, or even a name, to it. I know this person, who are they? The memories connecting me to this boy refuse to surface. _

"_Hadi please don't do this…," he continues, "Wake up! You've got to wake up! I've already lost one sister-"_

_He starts to cry softly and through the haze brought on by the pain, I feel tears wetting my hand. It shocks me. Although I have no idea who he is, I know, deep inside, that this boy does not cry. He really does care about me, I think with wonder. I knew it._

_I want to jump up and yell "I'm alive!" but my arms and legs refuse to move. They feel weighed down, too heavy for me to move. I am so tired…I just want to sleep…to just give up this fight. If only the pain will leave me alone…then I can relax and let slept claim me._

"_Nico calm down. She'll be fine. She has to be," a second voice mutters, breaking through my exhausted mind. _

_This one I know without a shadow of doubt. My older brother, Griffin. _

_I try to hold on and open my eyes. Let them know I'm fine, that I'm alive and semi-well. They obviously care about me and I don't want to let them down. I want to be able to get up and walk away with them like nothing happened…but I'm just too tired…too sleepy…too weary of fighting._

_The pain is slowly fading away. I can't feel it much anymore. It seems like just a dream, like it was never really here to begin with. Maybe I just imagined the pain, something that hurt that bad couldn't possibly be real. Couldn't possibly be happening to me. _

"_Rest," a soft voice whispers, "Rest."_

_The pain is completely gone now, not a speck of it remains. I can also no longer feel the stone beneath me, or hear the voices anymore. I am alone in a quiet comforting darkness. Everything is calm, peaceful, and blessedly dark. _

_I gladly let go, relaxing into it. I'm giving up the fight, wanting nothing more but to sleep forever, but for some reason I feel like I'm letting someone down. That somewhere, somehow, someone is still counting on me. That my job isn't finished yet. I still have work to do. _

_The darkness is no longer kind or comforting. It's morphed into a prison, holding me back from what I need to do. I scream and try to escape, to wake up, but it was no use. It has me. I surrendered to the beast, and now its claws are sunk deep inside, holding me here. My life has ended, I gave it up._

_I am dead. _

**A/N Alright! Well, review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: Chapter one rewritten! Whew, that was fun! I've changed the writing style to a little more personal approach and changed some of the names. It's cleaned up and will hopefully make more sense. I've got to admit, I'm looking forward to seriously working on this story. Anyway, here you are!**

**I'm not Rick.**

**Daughter of Death**

Chapter One

_ForeverSunshine13_

Loud, obnoxious beeping fills the air and I jerk awake. I'm confused for a second, my mind trying to process the fact that I'm alive. It was just a dream, I tell myself, just a dream. I take a deep breath, my heart pounding wildly in my chest as if I had just run a marathon. I sit up slowly, trying to control my breathing and relax.

I had the nightmare again. I've been having the same nightmare every night this week, over and over. Are there such things as chronic nightmares? Am I going nuts? How many people have the same dream every night without fail? I hate it. It's scary.

And it's always the same. There's the same darkness, the same mind numbing pain, the same feeling of letting someone down, and worst off all, I die every time. Is this some kind of warning? Am I now having visions of my death now? I try to remember the details of the dream, but it's all fuzzy. All I remember is the death and the pain.

Something tells me the dream is important, but I'm a bit too freaked out to concentrate on why it would be important.

I try to shake the dream from my mind, turning around in my bed until I'm facing the window. I pull aside the heavy black curtains and glance outside. A little bit of light comes in through the window, bouncing around on my blood red walls. It's cloudy outside. Really cloudy. The clouds are almost black they're so dark. No wonder there's so little light, the sun can barely shine.

I'm relieved. I'm not a huge fan of sunshine. It's not that I hate it, I promise I'm not a vampire, I just prefer the dark. And when you live in Florida, like I do, you learn to relish every bit of darkness you can find. Cloudy days are rare this close to summer and it's nice to have a break from the regular burning hot sunny days. I also love rain, so that's an added bonus.

My alarm clock goes off again and I jump.

"Shut up!" I slap it silent.

The only reason I put up with that idiotic thing is because I can never trust myself to get up on time. I enjoy my sleep way too much. My mom once suggested I get a quieter alarm clock, but that didn't work. I'm also a heavy sleeper and I need something really loud and really annoying to get me up.

So for now I'm stuck with the one I have.

I slide out of bed slowly, my mind still trying to talk me into going back to sleep. I start stretching, just to get my blood moving. My muscles are tighter than usual and almost sore. I pushed myself too far yesterday while practicing. If mom knew, she'd have my hide. She hates it when I push myself but dancing is the only way I can escape reality for any long period of time.

I eye my room lazily as I work the kinks out of my back. My mom hates the colors, but she didn't argue when I picked them out. It's my room and she agreed it should look the way I wanted it to. Blood red walls, black curtains, black wood furniture, and a black bedspread with red flowers. The Victorian style furniture gives it a creepy, yet cool, gothic look.

It's a pretty small bedroom, but I don't really spend much time in here. I sleep and do homework, but that's about it. Most of my time is spent either at school, at the studio, or babysitting my younger siblings. I don't need much space. I'm really just thankful that I don't have to share a room with my younger sister, Nixie. Our decorating styles clash.

There's a knock on the door and I turn to face it.

"I'm awake!" I yell.

It's Nixie, my sister. I know that because I have her check on me every morning to make sure I'm awake. I often find myself giving into my darker desires and ignoring my alarm clock. Nix makes sure I'm up and out of bed in enough time for breakfast. As much as I'd like to sleep forever, it's a huge no-no.

The door opens and Nix steps in. I roll my eyes.

"I told you I was awake."

"You say that a lot," she shrugs, "Most of the time you're actually still in bed."

I sigh. She has a point.

"Touché," I mutter.

She grins and I can't help but feel a bit jealous. At thirteen, my younger sister is already two inches taller than my 5'3. Her body is long and lithe, perfect for her two favorite things: surfing and playing volleyball. Her skin is perfectly tanned and blemish free, the result of all that time out in the Florida sunshine.

Nix is truly gorgeous. She looks a lot like our mom and I find myself wishing that I did too. Nix's got shoulder length golden blond ringlets that are held up in a high ponytail. Her eyes are a sea green that sometimes appear blue depending on the light and what she's wearing.

Today she's wearing a plain green V-neck t-shirt, light blue frayed jean shorts, and her favorite pair of light blue converse that lace up to her knees. Her accessories include a blue watch with dolphins, surfboard studs, and a black cord necklace with a golden pendent. The pendent has something that looks like an angel engraved on it. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be, but it was a gift from Mom and Nix wears it everywhere.

"You've seen I'm awake, now shoo!" I tell her, "I've got to get dressed."

"A thank you would be nice," she says sweetly.

I sigh.

"Thanks," I tell her.

"You're welcome!" She beams happily before skipping out of my room, closing the door behind her.

I shake my head at her before grabbing the clothes I picked out for today. Before you think I'm some sort clothes person who plans their outfits, let me tell you that I'm not. I pick out my clothes the night before so that I can sleep in as much as possible. Like I said, I like my sleep. I'll do anything to get a few extra winks.

I head out into the hall and into the bathroom opposite my room.

The bad thing about my bathroom is that it's not mine. I have to share it with Nix and my brother Griffin. Since I'm the last to get up, it means I'm the last one to use the bathroom and by the time I get in there, it's a complete mess. Nix has her toiletries strewn about the counter and Griffin has dirty clothes all over the floor.

I kick my brother's clothes into a corner, shuddering slightly. I try not to think about what my foot had been touching as I clear off some space on the counter for me to use. I've lost count of all the times I've complained about my siblings' lack of respect for the bathroom. It belongs to all of us, not just them. I'm tired of them making a mess that I have to clean up just so I can get ready.

I pull off the black Orlando Zoo t-shirt and black athletic shorts I wear to bed. I put them on my shelf before grabbing my clothes. I tug on my favorite pair of black skinny jeans which are pretty holey from use. I add my silver skull belt to my jeans before putting on a black t-shirt with a green skull on the front.

Why the all skulls and the color black? Am I Goth? No, I'm actually not. To be honest, I don't really know what's up with my attraction to skulls and the color black. I can't really explain it, it just feels natural. It feels right. I know that sounds weird, but there's just no other way to describe it.

I brush out my dark brown hair before braiding it into a side braid. My hair is slightly curly, not ringlets like Nix's, but large gentle curls that only form at the bottom of my hair. If anything, my hair is more wavy then actually curly. I brush my teeth and then put on my eye makeup. Lipstick and blush annoy me, so all I wear is heavy eyeliner, mascara, and dark eye shadow. It makes my dark brown eyes really pop and stand out against my pale skin.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I'm against struck by how different I am physically from my sister. Or any of my family really. Nix looks sort of like Mom, but her coloring is more vibrant than Mom's. Then you have me, who looks like a ghost. I have nothing in common with Mom. Even Griffin stands out from everyone. My youngest three siblings all look similar; you can see Mom and Greg in them. But for Nix, Griffin, and I? We could be adopted.

My mom's told me it's because we had a different father, some old boyfriend of hers who ditched us. I know that's true, Mom didn't marry Greg until I was seven, but I just can't imagine Griffin, Nix, and I all coming from the same two people. It just doesn't make sense. We look nothing alike. We don't share facial features, or coloring, or even personalities. We're as different as can be.

I can't help but feel that I've been lied to. But what I am going do? Go up to my mom and demand to know how many guys she had kids with? No thanks, that's a bit too weird for me.

I make a face at myself before leaving the bathroom and heading back to my room. This whole floor belongs to Nix, Griffin, and I. It has our bedrooms, the bathroom, and a super cool living room type space that has couches, a TV, and stuff. It's smaller than the other two floors, but hey, you won't hear me complaining. I love having our own space.

Slipping into my room, I head over to my dresser and pick out the jewelry I'm gonna wear today. I put on a pair of skull studs in my second piercing then a pair of dangling skeletons in my first. I change out the black ball stud in my nose for a little black ring. I wrap a silver skull choker around my neck then add three skull rings to my fingers (two on my right hand, one on my left).

I pick up a plain black bracelet with a silver tornado pendent. It matches Nix's necklace almost perfectly, except for the shape and color of the pendent. Like her, I got it from mom and she made me promise to wear it every day. I tie it onto my left wrist and wonder, for the millionth time, what's so special about this bracelet.

I put on a pair of black ankle socks, grab my backpack, and dash out the door. I head down the stairs, continuing past the second floor. The second floor has Mom and Greg's bedroom, the younger kids' bedrooms, Greg's study, and a huge playroom. I walk down the huge staircase that ends in the center of the front hallway, the front door directly ahead.

The dining room, which we only use for Thanksgiving and Christmas, is to the right of the stairs. The large eat in kitchen is to the left and that's where I head. Inside, the rest of the family has already gathered. I'm usually the last one to arrive to breakfast, so this is normal. They don't even glance up.

Mom is helping Julie, four, with her cereal, Greg is reading the paper, Nix and Griffin are both eating and talking about something, and Andrew, six, looks half-asleep. I'm worried that he might fall forward into his bowl of milk. The only family member missing is Kristopher, the four month old baby. He's still asleep, the lucky kid.

"Morning Hadi," mom says, looking up and smiling.

"Morning," I say, dropping my backpack to the floor and sliding into the seat between Griffin and Greg.

Griffin hands me the extra bowl and spoon. Nix passes me the milk and I pour it into my bowl, then add my favorite cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I eat slowly, studying my family while doing so, once again reminded of the differences that exist within our group.

Like I said, Nix looks like my mom. Mom's really pretty and looks younger than thirty-seven; she shares Nix's curly blond hair and most of her facial features. Her eyes though, are light green like the color of mint, light and soft. Unlike Nix, she's short, around my height, and curvier. She was a professional ballroom dancer when she was younger, but now she runs a studio where she teaches. I've never met her parents, or any of her family. She says she's not on good terms with them but she never says why.

Another odd fact to add to my odd life.

Julie is sitting on Mom's right and she's a perfect cross between Mom and Greg. She has curly dark brown hair and light green eyes. Her facial features are a magic blend of both of both. Andrew, sitting next to Julie, has Mom's coloring but looks more like Greg in facial features.

Greg, sitting on my mom's left and next to me, just turned forty a month ago but still looks good. He's a more rugged type of handsome with wavy dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He's 6'2 and is nice and fit which doesn't make much sense to me since he's a lawyer and spends a lot of time sitting down. His dad died when he was fifteen, but his mom is really nice. She's the only other family I know and I'm not even related to her.

Sitting on my right is my brother Griffin. He's seventeen, two years my senior, and at least seven inches taller than me. He has light brown hair that curls into little waves and the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. Girls at school say he's 'hot' and I'll admit, he is attractive. He's very athletic and he plays both football and soccer with a passion.

I finish my cereal and carry my bowl to the sink, glancing at the clock above the sink. Griffin comes up behind me with his and Nix's bowls. He sets them in the sink then glances at the clock too.

"I've got soccer practice this morning," he says, looking back towards the table. "We should go guys."

"Yeah ok," I head back to the table and grab my backpack from the floor.

Nix stands up too, her backpack across her shoulder.

"Bye guys!" She hugs the little kids and waves to Greg who smiles and waves back.

Mom stands up and walks the three of us into the front hall where she starts to give us a run down on our schedule while we get our shoes on. I put on my red converse as my mom's voice floats through the air.

"Griffin, you have dance practice today and I don't want you to be late again. Please come straight to the studio after school. Nix, you have cheerleader practice today and then you planned on going surfing. Get Greg to help you get your board down, you could hurt yourself if you do it. Hadi, you have to babysit this afternoon. Have Griffin drop you off on his way to the studio."

We nod and tell her we'd do everything on time and such. She wishes us a good day and we leave, heading out the door and into the fresh air outside. We trudge through the yard to where Griffin's blue Ford sits in the driveway. Griffin gets into the driver seat, I get in the passenger seat, and Nix gets in the back.

"Off to school we go!" Nix says cheerfully, leaning forward to turn on the radio.

Taylor Swift starts crooning through the speakers and I wince.

"Oh, good lord, Nix," I groan, "Why her?"

"She's good!" Nix says, settling back into her seat, "And besides, you got to pick the station yesterday."

I make a face at her through the review mirror and she stinks out her tongue at me.

"You guys are so annoying," Griffin pretends to complain, backing the truck out into the road.

Nix laughs and I smirk at my brother.

"You're the one who wanted a car," I remind him.

"I also wanted you two to keep riding the bus," he replies, pulling away from the house.

I snort.

"Jerk," I mutter.

He grins.

I shake my head and turn to look out the window. Nix starts to sing along with "Love Story" and Griffin hums with her. I watch the buildings pass by around me as we head towards school. I hate school. I'm just glad that the year is almost over. After this year I'll only have two left. That's something to look forward too.

School, for me, is pretty much hell on earth.

**So what do you guys think? Better? Worse? The same? Review and let me know! More reviews I get, the faster I write, and that is ALWAYS a good thing! :D**

**~Sunshine**


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N And I have another chapter of this darling story! See, I might take forever to update, but at least I always do, right? That's def a plus :D Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It really is a story I love, mostly cuz my brother, sister, and I all came up with it together. We're all PJ fans and so obviously we wanted to put ourselves into the story. Thus, this story was born! I couldn't have done it without them! Of course, I'm the only one who wanted to actually write it down so I do get a bit more of the credit ;)**

**I am not Rick.**

The school is a two-story brick building on the edge of town. It's a combination of both the Jr. and Sr. High, 7th-12th, which means Nix goes to the same school as Griffin and I. Behind the school building is the football field, the outdoor pool, and the soccer field. It's a pretty nice school for such a small town and the class sizes are tiny. I've been going to school with the same kids since kindergarten.

Of course that's also a downside.

I don't have any friends. Other people and I just don't click. Nix is Miss Popular and Griffin does pretty well too, but for some reason people just can't stand me. I don't mind really, most of the time I can't stand them either. But I'll admit, it's hard to be the outsider all the time. Everyone knows who I am and everyone avoids me. It would be nice to get a "Hey Hadi! Nice to see you!" once in a while, in all honesty.

I can deal with being the loner, I even enjoy it most of the time, but that doesn't mean I want to be alone all the time.

We pull up to school and Griffin jumps out of the car, yelling bye over his shoulder. Nix and I make our way with a bunch of other kids into the building and school begins. Nix walks off with a group of friends and I'm left to navigate my way through the day alone. For some reason, the loneliness starts to bother me more than it has in a long time. All I can think about is my family and how different we are. How Nix and Griffin make friends easily, but I can't. That can't be normal, right?

As my Algebra teacher babbles on, I stare at my desk blankly, my mind heading down paths I haven't traveled in years. Thoughts about my father, my mother's family, and memories of strange occurrences come flooding into my mind. Things that have been buried for so long, I've completely forgotten they existed. Memory after vivid memory appears in front of my eyes until the classroom I'm in fades to the background.

_The first one is definitely the oldest. I'm one and a half; my face is pressed up against a glass window looking into a room that has a bunch of babies inside. Griffin is next to me, chatting to our babysitter about our new baby sister. The sitter, a blond girl in her late teens, is holding us up so we can look into the room. _

"_W'ere?" I ask, tapping the glass._

"_What, Hadi?" The sitter turns from Griffin to look at me._

"_W'ere?" I ask again, slightly frustrated._

_The sitter looks at Griffin questionably, as if asking him to translate what I'm saying. _

"_She doesn't know which one's ours," Griffin says, "Show her!"_

_The sitter points to a tiny baby on the third row. It's sleeping peacefully wrapped up in a pink blanket, its blond fuzzy head the only thing showing._

"_That's her," the sitter says, "That's your baby sister."_

"_Nixie," Griffin says._

"_Nixie?" The sitter glances at him, "Is that her name?"_

_Griffin nods._

"_Nixie Oceana," he says._

_I nod in agreement; Mom had been calling the baby that since she had found out she was pregnant. I knew what the name was referring too._

"_That's pretty," the sitter smiles._

_I'm distracted by a man bending over our baby. He's so different from the other nurses and doctors around him that he immediately draws my attention. He has black hair and startling green eyes. He's wearing a bright blue shirt with coconuts and a pair of khaki shorts. He bends down and kisses the baby on her head, then stands back up. He catches my eye and gives me a warm smile._

_My little self knows this man somehow. I smile back and he disappears. I make no comment, as if men appearing and disappearing is something I'm used to. The sitter continues to talk to Griffin about the baby; she had somehow missed the man even though she was looking right at him. _

The next memory appears just as the other one is fading, giving me no time to think through the one I had just seen.

_I'm older, around six, and sitting in an uncomfortable chair in a hospital waiting room. Mom is pacing back and forth in front of me, pale and terrified. Greg is sitting in the seat next to me, holding Nix in his lap. The facts behind why we're here come to me. Mom and Greg had been on a date, us kids had been left at home with a sitter. There had been a wild thunder storm and all three of us had been playing in the rain while the babysitter was on the phone. She had just hung up the phone and was calling us to come in when lightning had zig-zagged down and hit Griffin in the back._

_Griffin had stumbled slightly, but other than that appeared fine. Nix and I weren't worried at all but the sitter completely flipped out. She'd called 9-1-1 and had an ambulance pick him up. She'd also called Greg and Mom who'd met us at the hospital. Realizing it hadn't been her fault, Mom had told her to go home. Now we're just waiting to find how Griffin is doing. I've never seen Mom so pale before, she looks almost sick to her stomach._

"_Suzanne," Greg says, "Please sit down. You're worrying me."_

_Mom shakes her head._

"_I can't," she says, "I have to know how he is."_

"_The doctor said he looked fine when they brought him in, they were just running some tests to be sure."_

_Mom bites her lip._

"_There is so much more at stake than that," she mutters._

_Greg looks confused and stops questioning her. I lean my head back against the seat and doze off. I'm awakened by the sound of my mom's anxious voice._

"_Griffin?" _

_I open my eyes and see my brother tucked safely in my mom's arms. A nurse stands next to them, smiling. Greg and Nix are both asleep in the chair next to me, unaware of Griffin's return._

"_Are you ok, baby?" My mom pulls back, looking into his face and running a hand through his hair._

"_He's perfectly fine," the nurse says reassuringly, "He wasn't hurt at all. It's a miracle really; it seems as if the lightning passed right through his body."_

_My mom doesn't look happy to hear that, in fact she looks even more nervous. She holds Griffin close to her side._

"_Are you sure?" She asks, "Nothing is wrong? Nothing at all?"_

_The nurse smiles patiently, her voice calm as if she's used to dealing with frantic mothers all the time._

"_He really is fine. The only evidence that he was even hit is a small mark."_

_My mom freezes._

"_What?" She demands._

_The nurse seems a bit flustered by Mom's intensity._

"_It's really nothing serious," she says, "Just a scar, from where the lightning hit him."_

_Mom's eyes grow huge._

"_Where?"_

"_In between his shoulders."_

_My mom turns Griffin around and pulls down the collar of his shirt. She sees something and gasps, a look of horror on her face. I lean forward to see what all the fuss is about and I catch sight of a white jagged scar that's at least three inches long. Before my mom lets go, I realize that it's the same shape as a streak of lightning, in the exact spot that the lightning hit him._

Another one flashes in front of my eyes and I start to get dizzy. I've never experienced flashbacks like this; I've never even had flashbacks. It's like I'm in a movie or something, it's almost too weird to be really happening.

_I'm seven in this one and I'm running upstairs with Griffin and Nix. My brain informs me that it's right after mom and Greg got married and we're helping them stick some of my mom's old stuff up in the attic of Greg's new house. While I do remember some things from the move, I have no recollection of this specific event. _

_Griffin is carrying a large box that's light enough for him to handle while Nix and I walk alongside him, pretending like we're helping him when really we just want to explore the attic. When we reach the top of the stairs, Nix rushes ahead to open the small little door that leads up to the attic. Griffin and I follow her inside and up a small, narrow staircase to the dark and musty space._

_Nix is waiting for us at the top, too scared of the dark to venture forward without us. I walk fearlessly forward, my hand against the wall until I hit a switch and turn the light on; chasing away the shadows to reveal a rather boring room that already has quite a few boxes of my mom's old stuff. Child me is extremely disappointed by the less then awesome attic space of our new home._

_Griffin sets the box down on top of another stack and turns to walk back downstairs. Nix, in her rush not to be the last one down, dashes ahead of me, bumping into the box and sending it crashing to the floor. All three of us freeze in horror before Nix busts out crying, convinced she's going to get in a lot of trouble._

_Griffin bends down and starts putting things back into the box, nothing appearing to be broken which soothes Nix down some. I help Griffin, picking up odd things like a wooden box, a lump of clay, a small piece of string, and a really weird looking paint set, returning them to their place inside the cardboard box._

_We've just put the box back on top of the others when Nix holds out a wand looking thing made from ivory with weird gold symbols tattooed on it. It's glowing slightly and warm to the touch when I take it from her. _

"_What's this?" I asked, frowning._

_Griffin takes it from my hand and looks it over, looking confused as well._

"_I don't know," he admits, "One of those things girls swirl over their heads?"_

_I knew what he was talking about although I had no idea what it was called. It did kind of look like that, so I just nodded. He was just putting it back into the box when my mom walked up, a large box with her favorite china set in her hands. We turn and stare at her, no doubt looking extremely guilty. She doesn't notice anything wrong at first…then she sees the wand thing in Griffin's hands._

_The box in her hands falls and the sound of china shattering fills the air. Mom runs forward, yanking the wand thing from Griffin's hand and throwing it in the box. She's pale and shaking as she grabs our arms and drags us downstairs, Nix right behind, the tears already filling her eyes again. Mom tells us under no circumstance are we ever to look inside that box again. We agree, rather freaked out by how serious she is. As we move to return to helping move in, all I can think about is the box of shattered china and how she hadn't even given it a second thought._

By the time the last one hits me, I'm as pale as my mom had been in the previous flashback and shaking even harder. What the teacher is saying is lost, the view of the classroom so blurry I can't even be sure that's where I am anymore. I've never felt so sick in my life and I briefly wonder if I'm going to end up dead or something.

_I'm ten in this one and I'm standing next to Nix and Griffin in the middle of a graveyard. The sky is cloudy and there's a crowd of older people, all dressed in black, surrounding us. The three of us are the only kids, standing out among the adults like sore thumbs. It's Greg's great aunt's funeral and the woman has already been laid to rest under a giant gray stone angel. _

_We're standing under a pavilion, everyone talking in hushed tones and drinking wine and eating light snacks. I've never been more bored in my life. My dress is hideous and itchy, some ugly hand-me-down from Greg's niece who's rich and whose mother has no taste in clothes. I look up at my mom whose busy talking to Greg's mother and then over to Nix and Griffin who are both being chatted up by two old ladies. Adults always love Nix and Griffin, they flock to talk to Greg's two adorable little step-kids. No one ever wants to talk to me though._

_I decide I've had enough of being ignored by old stuck up biddies who are too rich to be anything but stupid. I'm not related to these people, I owe them nothing._

_So I turn and walk away, no one paying any attention to the quiet little girl in black. There's a huge willow tree not too far away and I make my way over to it, thinking about all the games I can play under its long leaves. I slip inside, my eyes widening as I take in the misty green paradise that awaits inside the blanket of leaves. _

_I'm the Queen and this is my castle where I rule over the ghosts that dwell in this graveyard. Greg's great aunt, I decide, can be my helper if she wants. She had always given me chocolate when we had visited and she never treated Griffin or Nix better, unlike the crowd of mourners not too far away. _

_I'm deeply submerged in my fantasy, running out of my castle to wage war on the funeral idiots with my army of ghosts, when I run into a man who's standing next to a faded stone, watching the funeral. He's about as tall as Greg and is wearing a black and white suit. His hair is black and falls to his shoulders in waves. I stare at his skin; it's even whiter than mine, looking more like snow then something that belongs on a human being._

_He looks down at me with surprise and I jump back. There's something about his face, and especially his eyes, that seems familiar. He crouches down in front of me, studying my face with a calculating, but not unkind, expression._

"_What is your name, child?" He asks, his voice exhibiting a slight accent my young self can't place._

"_Hadrea," I answer, looking at him suspiciously._

"_Hadrea," he repeats, and then smiles and I'm once again hit by a feeling of recognition like I should know this strange man._

_He stands up and looks back towards the funeral, as if dismissing me. I refuse to leave, intrigued by him and his all too familiar face._

"_Who're you?" I ask._

_He glances down at me, his eyebrows raised._

"_An observer," he says._

_I frown, totally confused._

"_Of what?"_

"_Of funerals."_

"_That sounds boring," I say, matter-of-factly._

_He looks at me again, his eyes holding some emotion I've never seen before._

"_We all have a role to play, Hadrea," he tells me, "This is mine. One day, you will have your own role to fulfill."_

_I'm about to ask him what he's talking about when my mom calls for me. I look over and see her, walking towards me, her high heels wobbling a bit in the grass. _

"_Hadi!" She says, reaching me and taking my hand, "What are you doing? I've been looking all over for you! You can't just run off like that!"_

"_I was talking to this guy," I say, turning to where he was standing, but to my amazement, he's gone._

"_What guy?" My mom asks, frowning._

"_There was a guy right here," I say, shrugging, "Maybe he was just a ghost."_

_My mom stares at me in horror then looks around at all the graves. She pulls me away from them, walking quickly back to the pavilion. When we get back she heads over to Greg, telling him it's time we leave. He doesn't seem very happy, but Mom is persistent and he goes with it. He can see the fear in her eyes too._

The flashback fades away and I'm left sitting at my desk, my hands clenched around the book in front of me. The class has just ended and I missed all of it. Students around me stand up, gathering their books, whispering back and forth about local school gossip and other things kids talk about. I swallow hard and stand shakily to my feet, my head spinning. For a second I'm convinced I'm about to pass out until someone grabs my arm and I look up into the worried face of my teacher.

"Are you alright, Hadrea?" He asks.

I nod, the spots before my eyes disappearing.

"Yeah," I manage, "I just stood up too fast."

He doesn't look completely convinced but he lets go of me anyway. I pick up my books and walk as carefully out of the classroom as I can. I'm not sure what just happened in there but whatever it was, it was really weird. I'm remembering things I never have before, events I wasn't even aware happened. It's like some bizarre dream where I know I'm dreaming but can't seem to wake up from.

The strangest part is that I have the deepest feeling that these flashbacks somehow have to do with the dreams I've been having every night for the past week.

**WELL?! What do you guys think of these flashbacks into Hadi's life? What do you think they mean? These flashbacks are to replace the one their mother had in the old story. I thought it would make much more sense coming from Hadi then a random blurp from their mom. Anyway, ENOUGH OF ME! Let me know your thoughts! Comments, suggestions, and questions are all welcome! Review or PM me and let me know!**

**~Sunshine**


	4. Author's Note

**A/N Hey guys! I'm sorry if you thought this was another chapter, it's not. With graduation coming up, I've decided to only focus on one of my stories until I'm done and summer starts. So this story is being put on a slight hold (just until June!). I'm focusing my attention on my Peter Pan/OC Once Upon a Time fic, Who We Are. If you're a fan of that, please check it out! If not, that's kewl. This story WILL be finished, I WILL come back to it. I just have a lot on my plate at the moment so I'm putting this to the side. I don't want to give up on my readers completely though, which is why I'm still working on one. Thank you guys for being such great readers! It means a lot I'll see you all again in June! **

**~Sunshine**


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